Alabama's DeBoer Says 'I Choose to Believe We Got a Good Football Team' After FSU Loss

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer says he will "choose to believe" in his team after Saturday's season opening loss to Florida State.

"I choose to believe we've got a good football team, but we can't play on our heels," DeBoer said in his postgame press conference. "We're not going to be what we think we can be, what we want to be, if that's the case."

DeBoer continued, "Last year isn't this year. And it's going to be an uphill climb for us, but you can't think of it, the big scope of things. You've got to focus on the moment."

The Crimson Tide's 31-17 defeat on Saturday marked the program's first season-opening loss since 2001.

Alabama was heavily favored over host Florida State, a team coming off a disappointing 2-10 season during which the Seminoles averaged fewer than 90 rushing yards per game.

That 2024 season, however, hadn't featured former Auburn head coach and new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn or former BC quarterback Thomas Castellanos. The new-look offense recorded 230 yards on the ground as the Crimson Tide's defense struggled with missed tackles.

DeBoer meanwhile expressed frustration with the offensive effort around quarterback Ty Simpson after Alabama closed out the loss with 74 total rushing yards, almost 100 fewer than what the program averaged last season.

"I know that he's in the locker room, wishing that there were some things he would've done different, but there are other guys too," DeBoer said. "We've got to catch the ball for him once in a while. It's a full team sport, it's a whole offensive unit that has to move the ball up and down the field. Yeah, the quarterback's the trigger man, but everyone's got to do their part to help the guy out."

DeBoer's career record moved to 9-5 at Alabama. That includes a 6-4 record against unranked teams, a significantly less impressive win percentage than former head coach Nick Saban's 124-4 mark against similar opponents, per ESPN.

The pressure is now on DeBoer to guide his team into the playoff despite starting out the season with a loss that the CFP selection committee will undoubtedly be considering while determining bracket seeding this December.